Jun. 11, 2012

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Smoke and flames from the High Park Fire take over the sky south of Horsetooth Reservoir on Sunday. / Sam Wilson/The Coloradoan

How you can help

• To donate or offer to volunteer, call 211 or visit www.help coloradonow.org. • Financial support to agencies responding to the fire is the most effective way to help. Cash donations allow disaster relief agencies to purchase what is needed. Visit www.redcross.org to donate to fire relief efforts.

LAPORTE — Nature is winning a gruesome battle in what officials are calling one of the worst fires in Larimer County history.

As of Sunday evening, the High Park Fire exceeded 20,000 acres, fueled by windy, dry conditions that have left crews with “no hope for containment,” according to County Sheriff Justin Smith. A more specific size is expected this morning after aircraft use infrared cameras to measure the full extent of the fire burning 15 miles northwest of Fort Collins.

Smith said conditions remain similar to the Hayman Fire, which burned 136,760 acres, 133 homes and 433 outbuildings over a six-week period 10 years ago in Parker, Teller, Jefferson and Douglas counties.

Smith said the blaze is quickly becoming his worst nightmare, spreading “in every possible direction” as an already smoke-darkened Sunday night drew into its late hours.

“This is simultaneously burning through every area we’ve been individually concerned about for the past two decades,” he said. “The best thing we have now is prayer for a change in weather.”

As of Sunday evening, crews found no indication of a human-started point of origin, leaving some to believe that nature is to blame not only for the fire’s spread, but for its Saturday afternoon genesis.

At least one third of all national firefighting resources are being used to combat the fire’s spread. Some evacuation crews and firefighters have been on duty for more than 24 hours. There were 10 aircraft and 15 engines on scene Sunday evening to aid more than 250 personnel on the ground. Aircraft included two Black Hawk helicopters from the Army National Guard, two Type 1 helicopters, two Type 3 helicopters, two Canadian air tankers and a duo of single-engine tankers.

A Type 1 Incident Command Team — the highest level available — is set to take control this morning, leaving crews hopeful for additional air support, including more military, and funding.

“We’re going to throw everything we can at this,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper, who made the rounds Sunday at evacuation and command centers in a show of support. “But nature is our biggest resource. More equipment would help, but we can only do so much to fight a fire of this size. Nature is conspiring against us.”

Sheriff’s officials have issued about 2,200 emergency notifications for areas surrounding the fire, saying that most evacuations have gone smoothly, but some residents are refusing to leave their homes.

Crews still are searching for a single missing person who “might not have made it” after the individual went missing from an Old Flowers road home destroyed by the blaze. The person’s identity has not been released, and no deaths have been confirmed.

A group of campers rumored to be in the area have been found north of the fire and appear to be safe.

Crews continue to search for and notify additional evacuees, but Smith said crews may be pulled out of the area as conditions worsen.